Were Trump's PTSD comments taken out of context?

Local supporters of Donald Trump believe his comments about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder were taken out of context by the mainstream media.

Author:
Stephen Adams

Published:
9:56 PM CDT October 4, 2016

Local supporters of Donald Trump believe his comments about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder were taken out of context by the mainstream media.

While speaking at a Retired American Warriors conference in Virginia on Monday, the GOP nominee answered a question about mental health. Trump supporters said several media outlets used his remarks to suggest that he thought soldiers suffering from PTSD were weak.

Below is what Trump actually said:

"When you talk about the mental health problems when people come back from war and combat and they see things maybe a lot of things people in this room have seen many times over and you're strong and you can handle it, they can't handle it. They see horror stories, they see events you couldn't see in a movie, no one would believe it. We need a mental health and medical and its' one of the things that's least addressed and it's one of the things I hear the most about when I go around and talk to veterans. We're going to have a robust, very robust performance having to do with mental health. We are losing so many great people we could take care of it they had proper care."

Channel Six News interviewed McLennan County Republican Chairman Jon Ker, a military veteran himself, on Tuesday.

"He's in a race that no matter what he says, somebody is going to try to twist and turn it," Ker said about Trump.

But, other local military veterans are concerned the billionaire has a history of insulting members of the military, including last year when Trump suggested John McCain was not a war hero because he was captured.

"[Trump] would be no good for the military now or in the future," James Abbott, a Temple WWII veteran, said.

A recent NBC/Survey Monkey poll shows 55 percent of military members support Trump compared with a mere 36 percent who expressed support for Hillary Clinton. However, nearly half of those surveyed expressed concern about Trump's ability to lead the military.